Joplin School and Freeman Health System are partnering to bring telemed service into schools. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

A study by the US Department of Health and Human Services released in December of last year showed that doctor visits through just Medicaid alone have increased 63-fold during the pandemic, from approximately 840,000 in 2019 to 52.7 million. With staggering increases in telemed appointments over the last two years, Freeman Health sees an opportunity to provide medical services to Joplin School 7,800 students.

Through the telemedicine program, a mobile cart is used by the school nurse enabling a medical provider outside the school to examine the student, who remains at the school nurse’s office. When a parent receives a phone call from a school nurse advising that their child is ill and needs to see a provider, telemedicine will be an option that can save parents time by eliminating the need to leave work to take their child to a doctor’s office. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and demonstration scheduled at McKinley Elementary this morning was postponed due to the storm. For 89 9 KRPS, I’m Fred Fletcher-Fierro